This journey provided numerous opportunities and experiences for Donne, but in order to go on the trip he had to leave behind his wife, Anne, and their twelve kids for the time being. Donne, who claimed to be madly in love with Anne, wrote a farewell poem to his wife. In the famous poem, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” Donne argues that their love is real because it is spiritual. Although his idea may be correct, he continues validating this by stating that the physical connection people have for each other is not real and it is shallow. Donne argues that a physical love for someone is unstable and can misrepresent a relationship when saying, “Dull sublunary lovers’ love (whose soul is sense) cannot admit absence, because it doth remove those things which elemented it” (Donne). In the previous stanza, Donne says that love built on a physical connection cannot withstand separation and is therefore weaker than spiritual love. John Donne also argued in this poem that being publically affectionate about his love to his wife would negatively affect them, as well as invalidate it in the eyes of their peers’ due to society’s standards. In stanzas seven and eight, he suggests that he desires a quiet parting because of “the laity people” his love would be broadcasted to if he publically said goodbye. During this time period, publically displaying affection was a taboo whereas spiritual love was more meaningful. Even though physical affection in public was frowned upon by society’s standards, it does not mean that an intimate connection was not necessary or common between a
This journey provided numerous opportunities and experiences for Donne, but in order to go on the trip he had to leave behind his wife, Anne, and their twelve kids for the time being. Donne, who claimed to be madly in love with Anne, wrote a farewell poem to his wife. In the famous poem, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning,” Donne argues that their love is real because it is spiritual. Although his idea may be correct, he continues validating this by stating that the physical connection people have for each other is not real and it is shallow. Donne argues that a physical love for someone is unstable and can misrepresent a relationship when saying, “Dull sublunary lovers’ love (whose soul is sense) cannot admit absence, because it doth remove those things which elemented it” (Donne). In the previous stanza, Donne says that love built on a physical connection cannot withstand separation and is therefore weaker than spiritual love. John Donne also argued in this poem that being publically affectionate about his love to his wife would negatively affect them, as well as invalidate it in the eyes of their peers’ due to society’s standards. In stanzas seven and eight, he suggests that he desires a quiet parting because of “the laity people” his love would be broadcasted to if he publically said goodbye. During this time period, publically displaying affection was a taboo whereas spiritual love was more meaningful. Even though physical affection in public was frowned upon by society’s standards, it does not mean that an intimate connection was not necessary or common between a